To mark the 70th anniversary of Victory, the management of Stalin Line decided to restore an SU-100 self-propelled gun to running order at its own expense.
Before arriving at Stalin Line, the self-propelled gun had stood at a military training ground and was in a very sorry state. It had no engine, no gearbox and not even a roof over the engine compartment. As a result, two bucketfuls of ‘cultural soil’ had accumulated inside the vehicle, containing all manner of small objects, from broken combs to Soviet five- and even fifty-kopeck coins! When the SU-100 was delivered to Stalin Line, it underwent some minor repairs and was placed on display between two T-10 heavy tanks.
Work to restore the vehicle began with clearing the soil from the hull. The restorers then dismantled the running gear and gun, overhauled them and brought them back into working order. The military supplied an engine from storage. A gearbox, two radiators, control levers with steering-clutch linkages and even such small components as periscopes, pistol ports and an antenna mounting socket were found for the self-propelled gun. All the vehicle’s surfaces were then cleaned, primed and painted in their standard colours: the oil tanks red, the fuel tanks blue, the interior white and the exterior green. The result was a remarkably smart-looking vehicle, with a silver engine, green fan and black gearbox surrounded by numerous brightly coloured pipes secured with neat coloured clips.
Then, ‘as if by magic’—though in fact thanks to the team’s expertise—everything was fitted back into place, the connections were correctly aligned, the pressure was raised to two and a half atmospheres, the right button was pressed and… the miracle of a legend reborn took place!
The legendary SU-100, which in 1945 destroyed even the latest ‘King Tigers’, has now been given a new lease of life at Stalin Line. Thanks to our restorers’ commitment to historical accuracy, the self-propelled gun was fitted with wartime road wheels and headlamps. The external fuel tanks were restored to the correct appearance, and the spare parts, tools and accessories box was moved to its standard position. The powerful 100 mm gun could once again be traversed and elevated with ease. The SU-100 was also fitted with a fully functioning driver’s hatch, complete with movable armoured ‘eyelids’ that protected the periscopes in battle.
As the restored SU-100 takes its first steps at Stalin Line, our restorers Alexander Mikalutsky, Vladimir Yakushev and his sons Alexey and Maxim are ready for new achievements.
Information support was provided by Wargaming, which produced the film ‘SU-100: The Rebirth of a Legend’.
Russian 
English